Building Blog

You can be sure that as soon as there is any sign of a likely early summer dry spell in the South Island, the...

I just don’t get Facebook. I know it has more than 1.5 billion worldwide users on a monthly basis, but I don’t see its...

Architect Don Bunting looks back at what were better times for our industry, and examines some of the possible causes for change.   Accepting that memory...

Science writer Steven Johnson defines the hummingbird effect as: An innovation in one field triggering an unexpected breakthrough or change in a different domain.   The...

During a recent visit to Sydney I watched a report on television about substandard imported building materials — specifically concerning the safety of electrical...

Anecdotally, Australia contains 40 different species of flora and fauna that can kill you. But the main difference bet ween Australia and our friendly...

Architect Don Bunting reflects on a 20th Century architectural icon, and some recent issues affecting today’s design and construction industry. 2015 represents 100 years since...

  Noticing the poignant wording on an old footpath grating — “Patent applied for” — reminded me what a great building material cast iron is,...

Considering a few of the really bad ideas that happened in our industry, the use of lead in paints and plumbing pipes and using...

Is there an unwritten convention that large shopping centres have to be unattractive? I couldn’t name even one such centre that looks like anything...